TV ratings: ‘X Factor’ finale falls 45% from a year ago
Simon Cowell scored a victory as his lovebird singing duo Alex & Sierra won “The X Factor” Thursday night, but the show hasn’t been much of a triumph for Fox in the ratings this year.
The musical contest’s third season finale drew 6.2 million viewers and a rating of 1.7 among the key 18-to-49-year-old audience, according to early numbers from Nielsen. In the young-adults demographic, for which advertisers pay a premium, the episode was down 45% from the season closer a year ago. Last year, 9.66 million people watched the results finale overall.
“X Factor” did beat NBC’s “Sing-Off,” which scored a rating of 1.2 in 18-49 and 4.44 million viewers, down single digits from last week in both measures. NBC’s repeat of “Saturday Night Live Christmas” drew a 1.7 rating and an average of 4.32 million viewers total.
ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll
Fox posted the best rating in 18-49 among the major networks with a 1.7 for the night, while CBS’ all-rerun lineup drew the biggest audience with an average of 6.88 million.
ABC’s airing of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the second encore of the Peanuts special this season, brought in 6.5 million viewers and a 1.7 rating, followed by “ABC News: The Year 2013” with 5.67 million and a 1.4.
The top-rated broadcast show of the night was a rerun of “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS, which drew a 2.8 in the demo and an average audience of 11.1 million.
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